Saving Face

The film Saving Face has an extremely interesting statement about changing cultures as generations progress.  In this case, the film specifically focuses on Chinese-Americans.  In Saving Face, you focus on a specific family, the Pang family, which is comprised of three different generations.  The first generation and the second generation are both very invested and involved in the Chinese community surrounding them, while the third generation seems to be more “Americanized.” 

Throughout the film, there is a powerful struggle as Wil tries to embrace her homosexuality and express it to people other than Vivian.  When she tells her mother that she loves her and she is gay, her mother refuses to accept it.  Ma says that Wil could not say those two things in one sentence, because Ma had not been a bad mother, and since she had not been a bad mother, Wil could not possibly be gay.  Ma’s inability to accept Wil for what she cannot help drives a stake into their relationship.

Along with the strained relationship between Ma and Wil, there is also a strained relationship between Ma and Wai Gung, or grandpa.  When Ma first gets pregnant, grandpa is furious and throws her out of the house.  He refuses to speak to her.  He even refuses to let her see her mother when she is sick in the hospital.  As Ma attempts to please her father, she almost marries Cho, a man that she does not love.  She endures the embarrassment and judgment of being pregnant at her age and ignores her true love for Little Yu, who is inappropriately younger than her, in attempt to be a better Chinese daughter for her father. 

The problem that both Ma and Wil face in this movie is the balance between the two sides of their identities.  For Ma, she is extremely connected to her Chinese heritage, and she is influenced by the pressures that she was raised under.  She sees herself inferior to her father, and she will do anything to regain his acceptance.  Like many Chinese women, she was taught that she was to do what a man in hefr family said.  Ma is controlled by Wai Gung, and would have not been able to break free, to embrace her true happiness, without the help of Wil.  Wil, on the other hand, feels this same influence with her mother.  She was also raised to be the perfect Chinese daughter.  However, with Wil, you can tell that she is much different than her mother.  She is much more independent, which was uncommon for many Chinese-American women at the time.  Since she is very independent, she doesn’t need as much help embracing her identity.  Even though she accepts who she is, she struggles to show it off to the world.  She refuses to be public about her sexual orientation, which drives her and Vivian apart. 

Even though both Ma and Wil are plagued with trying to fit into their family’s mold, by the end of the film they both manage to break free. As Ma dances with Little Yu and Wil kisses Vivian, both right in front of their Chinese community, I felt as though the director had succeeded in making a huge statement about the struggle of Chinese-Americans.  The film showed the process of changing traditions and merging cultures as generations progressed.  In the end, Wai Gung is embarrassed by the secrets of both Wil and Ma, but he seems to accept them.  Ma accepts Wil for her secret, and Wil is able to show off her true identity to the world.